A whirlwind of a week in my new area, Iriga!

Wow! What a crazy week here in Iriga! Starting from last Monday, it has been a bit of a whirlwind as I have needed to get everything packed up, 

say my last goodbyes,

~ Sister Raneses & Sister Matheny ~

  and head out to Iriga.

To be honest, when I first heard that I would be transferring here, I was more than a little nervous. I had heard that Iriga was the hottest area in the Naga mission and was a little nervous to experience working in a branch, since I have never been to a branch before.

 But upon arriving here and spending a couple of days adjusting to this beautiful place, all my doubts were soon washed away.

For one, I was excited to learn that Sister Sosoter would be moving out to Iriga with me and that we would be Kabahays again. She was my kabahay for a transfer in Naga and is super nice, sweet, and fun to be around.  In fact, I love all my kabahay's (roommates)...

Sister Segovia & Sister Matheny

~ Sister Sosoter & Sister Habla ~

  For another, as I looked out the window on the bus ride out here, I remember being in awww as I saw all the beautiful trees, hills, rice fields,

 and eventually: Mount Isarog.

From our apartment here in Iriga, we have a perfect view of the mountain, surrounding rice fields and live withing walking distance of the church, which is really nice! 

I had honesty forgotten how much I missed that from Goa... but that isn't going to last long because we are planning on moving to a new apartment at the end of this month! In my opinion, our apartment is awesome, but everyone else seems to think it is an old dump...

 Apparently, the new apartment is really nice, has never been lived in, and is right next door to the senior couple, which I think will be really fun! They even have an oven there, so I might get to try and bake something (if I can remember how).

Besides that, my companion here is SISTER HABLA! And just in the past week, I have already come to love her! She really is an awesome companion!  All of her other companions have also been foreigners apparently, so she is really good at helping me learn the language. Also, she is super adorable! Sister Habla is really little, so I honestly feel like kind of a giant next to her, haha! Oh well... this is the Philippines, so I'm kind of used to feeling like a giant by now. Actually, it kind of freaks me out when I meet people taller than I am now.

~ Sister Sosoter, Sister Segovia, Sister Habla, & Sister Matheny ~

I remember we met a guy last night at a teaching appointment that was 6'1" and it actually made me a little nervous to be around him because he was SOOOOO tall! So when I found out his height, I actually almost cried as I thought about how hard it will be when I have to come home to a bunch of giants. 

Anyways, besides being little, Sister Habla is super sweet, really easy going and super nice. So I don't think we are going to have trouble getting along at all. She is also really good at seeing the good in people right when she meets them, which is an awesome quality and something I really think I can learn from her. Also, she is really patient and loving, especially with helping our less-active families, which is not always something I am super awesome at. SO all in all, I think we are going to have a really fun transfer and I will have a great opportunity to learn a ton from her!

So finally, about our area here: it's HUGE!!!! The biggest I have had so far. Here in Iriga, we have 8 barangays to proselyte in, so to be honest, my first few days I was feeling a little overwhelmed just by the sheer size (especially since I only had 1 barangay in Goa and 3 in Naga).

Additionally, on the way here, I was really freaked out because I had heard that Iriga was made up of a bunch of rich people, and rich people can sometimes be a little harder to talk to. In fact, the only thing I really prayed for before moving here was that God would not send me somewhere with a bunch of rich people. So naturally, I got sent somewhere with a bunch of rich people.

A lot of the houses out here in Iriga are HUGE! And I can't help but stare with wide eyes as we walk past some of them everyday. II think this is the closest I have felt to living in America since I left home!

But despite the big houses, the people here are SUPER NICE and SUPER AWESOME!  Even their pets are sweet . . .

 

 Just after this past week, I have seen that this area really does have so much potential to grow, it's just going to take a couple of missionaries working twice as hard as usual to make it happen which I think we can do.

One advantage I definitely have here is my "white powers", which I have definitely using in full. 

It has been a while since any white sisters have been assigned here, so everyone is always shocked to see me and a lot more friendly than they usually would be, leaving Sister Habla and I with lots of great teaching opportunities.

 Just in this past week we have met so many awesome people that really do have a ton of potential, so I am excited to see what lays in store for the weeks to come.

I know one thing that definitely helped add to a warm-welcome here in Iriga was the members. They are all SUPER friendly, and I have really made it a goal to get to know them while I am here. Last night, one of the families in the ward invited us over for dinner and fed us crab, which was super tasty! 

 Especially since here in the Philippines, you don't have to use tons of fancy tools to eat crab you just crack it open and go for it with your hands. So fun! If there's one thing I have learned in the Philippines, it's that silverware is WAY over-rated! (I'm probably going to have TERRIBLE table manners by the time I get home... sorry mom)

Anyways, besides that, I am just so grateful to God for the opportunity to serve here. I really have seen/felt His hand guiding me along throughout the whole mission and just in this past week, I have really felt that this is exactly where I am supposed to be.

It's funny... God really does work in mysterious ways, and he always manages to answer prayers in the best ways possible. So we should never cease to pray/to ask for the things we need and then to LISTEN for the answers. Because he will always give one, we just need to make sure we are paying attention for it.

I think that is probably what I have learned the most this week: there really is a huge difference between just going through the motions and actually making a conscious effort to listen to the spirit and those around you.

I love all of you and am so grateful for the time you have taken to listen to me throughout the mission so have a great week, and I can't wait to hear from home again next week! 

Sincerely,

Sister Matheny

Blessed

What a week! How the time has seemed to just fly by! It seems like only yesterday I was sitting at Nanay Cea's internet shop writing home to my family. And now, I'm here again! But this week will be my last at Nanay Cea's internet shop because tomorrow, I will be transferring! To Iriga!

So when we got the transfer announcements last night, it was kind of a bitter-sweet moment for me. I immediately started to feel sad as I thought about my amazing companion, area, and investigators here that I will be leaving behind. As I thought, I started to remember all the things that I love and that I will miss about this place and the people here and all the fun experiences I have had in Naga. Looking back over the time, I feel so lucky to have had so many good times here and am shocked by how fast the time seems to be flying! It actually worries me a little bit about how the rest of the mission will go!

But as for my last week here in Naga, it has been a good one. I feel like we have really put in our best effort and I am so excited to leave our area with Sister Raneses! 

She really is an amazing missionary and I have seen her grow so much since the start of our time together. So I know she's got this! And will be able to do so much good for the people here in our area.

In addition, this week has been a little chaotic/different because twice this past week I have had the amazing opportunity to go with Sister Zapanta and some of the other missionaries here in Naga to help out with some activities in different zones.

On Thursday, I got to be companions with Sister Roberts as we all went out to a college campus in Iriga to share the gospel.

 

 And earlier this morning, I also had the opportunity to go with Sister T'ui out to Pomplona to share the gospel at a high school there. It was really fun!

 For me, I definitely think I was able to polish up on some of my teaching skills as we had the opportunity to meet and talk with hundreds of people. 

 
 Besides that, it was a pretty normal week of proselyting as we worked our way to a good end of the week and a great end of the transfer. Many times this week, I found myself having to rely completely on my Father in Heaven to make it through the weekly trials and came to find myself constantly reminded of how lucky and blessed I have been throughout my whole life. I don't think you can really understand how much you have or how blessed you have been until you meet people with so much less. Let despite the trials of the people I have met here, they continue to smile and be amazing, and every day I find myself coming to love them more and more.

For example, as I looked into the eyes of one of our part member families (the Balmes family) this past week, who has come to be very special to me over the past 6 months, I couldn't help but feel so thankful to have gotten to know them and become part of their life as we gave our last teary-eyed goodbyes.

All in all, I know there will be tons of people and other things that I will miss about Naga, just as there are things I miss about Goa. But I am also so excited to get to head out, meet and serve tons of new people in Iriga!

As one of the speakers said at stake conference last Sunday: "The key to this work is not who you are or where you are called to go. The key is to love the people. To love them enough to see them through Heavenly Father's eyes, and to be willing to give your all to help them". 

So I know that if we just continue to work hard, do our best, and strive to give our all in helping the people around us, than everything will work out in the end. So when things get rough, just keep on going. Just think: you're almost there!!!!

I love you all, hope you have a great week and can't wait to email from Iriga next week!

Sincerely, 

Sister Matheny

10 things I love about Goa:

1. Making "mean jokes" with Sister Stackhouse

2. Mango tarts and Sister Jimenez's cooking

3. The rice fields

4. That everyone is always playing with a rubix cube

5. Seeing tricys drive down the road overflowing with 16 people

6. Our fun district service projects

7. Sleeping mattress-to-mattress on the floor with all my other roommates

8. Eating 7/11 ice-cream on the way home from proselyting

9. Falling in the mud as I try my best to catch ducks

10. Having to watch my step as we walk home in the rain so as not to squish all the toads in the road.

10 things I love about Naga:

1. All the children screaming "Sister Matheny!", "Sister Black!" and "Up-here!" (high-five) as we pass by

2. Trying not to trip and fall as we speed-walk along the railroad

3. Having a flushing toilet in my home

4. Being within walking distance of the mission office

5. Eating Taho for breakfast

6. Nanay Cea's internet shop

7. All of the awesome/humble people here

8. Not having to slouch inside the tricys because the tricys in Naga are a little larger

9. That people here actually have real pet dogs that are so fun to play with

10.The delicious flan at kitchen everywhere

Work, Work, and More Work

So it was another very good week here in Naga as we worked, and worked and worked. I say worked a lot because that really is what this whole week was about: working even harder because of some new adjustments in our area.

 So last week, I was sitting in my room when I started thinking about our area, as I was thinking, I started to realize just how mixed up our area is with that of the Zone Leaders. Instead of splitting the two areas down the middle, we have kind of boxed each other in as all of our areas are now a little mixed up.

Thinking about this problem, I realized that the only way to fix it would be to give the elders conception pq, one of our progressing areas. At first, I really didn't want to do that, because we have a lot of awesome investigators there that I have really come to love and care about, but the more Sister Raneses and I thought and talked about it, the more we felt the switch needed to be made.

So last Sunday, we proposed the idea to the Zone Leaders, and they agreed to the idea, giving us their area Tabuko and we agreed to give them Conception pq. Which means we had to work extra hard this week to make the necessary changes in preparation to give conception pq. to the elders.

One of those necessary changes included track-ting in Tabuko. Because the Zone Leaders had only recently received the area, they actually didn't know where it was, meaning they had never actually proselyted there and had no investigators. In addition, the last missionaries to proselyte there were the office elders, whose schedule is a little different from other areas, so when they left the area, there weren't really any more investigators  there.

So I will say, when we went to scout out the area on Tuesday with nothing but 5 member's names from an outdated 2014 ward directory, I was feeling just a little bit nervous about the whole thing.

When we headed out though, it actually ended up being really easy to find the area, because it is right next to our other areas (Lerma and Triangulo) and once we got there, we were surprised to find that all the people are SUPER NICE! It didn't take us long to see that the area has a TON of POTENTIAL to progress, and we had a lot of fun as we literally talked to everyone throughout the day. 

When Thursday came around and we returned to Tabuko. we were already up to about 15 names of people where were interested to listen, and by Saturday, we were able to start filling our schedule with lots of return appointments, which was awesome!

From all of our track-ting in Tabukop this week, this is what I have to say: TRACK-TING IS EXHAUSTING! But it is also a ton of fun, especially since I have slept like a baby these past few nights from all the walking.

Besides that, we have been helping our investigator Ely to prepare for his baptism this upcoming week and even got to have an FHE at his home, along with the Lalas family and Bishop's family. It was super fun! Additionally, Sister Raneses has been getting better and better at leading the area this past week as her training is coming to an end. And let me just say, she is an AWESOME missionary. I am SUPER lucky to be her companion.

Also, the Lalas family who lost their mom seems to be doing better. We went over to teach the other night, and their house felt so... empty without her. I could feel the weight of it in the room. It almost made me want to cry. 

So I know it is rough for them now, but in the end I think it will actually end up being a good thing for their family. Tay has turned his life around a lot since it happened, and I think if he continues, he will be able to do this. Also, the ward here has been supper supportive, so that's nice.  

Remember the special cars my AWESOME Grandpa McDougall made and sent me to give away???  Well, I've been saving them for someone special so I decided to give one to their little boy . . . 

 I know he's struggling right now after losing his mom so I wanted to cheer him up.  I think it worked!  Thank you again Grandpa!  You made a little boys day a little brighter!

 In addition, with all the rain we have been having, it has actually started to cool down here and I have even started to get cold! (Oh no! I'm turning into a Filipina!!!) at Zone Conference, I even had to bring a jacket, which I definitely used.

At Zone Conference, I learned a ton--as usual--which has really come in handy as we have focused on finding and teaching more people by the spirit.

On the day of conference, there was also a bagio (typhoon), but since it was just a little one, work continued as usual.

So after the conference, we ended up wading through water past our ankles and got soaking wet in the pouring rain as we made our way from appointment to appointment.

 At one appointment, we got freaked out when one of our investigators told us to be careful wading through the water because there is rat pee in there, which is apparently really dangerous because it can give you this incurable disease that is almost sure to kill you.

That really freaked me out and after the lesson, I was honestly scared to leave their house because there was no way out except through the flood water!

 As Sister Raneses said: "What will we do if we die? Who will teach all of our investigators", I agreed, adding that I am definitely not ready to serve a mission in the spirit world.

 On the way home, we had to hop along the railroad because that was the only place that wasn't completely flooded.

So the end of this week and Saturday marked our last heart-wrenching day of work in Conception pq. as we said good-bye to all our investigators there. 

Sunday, at church, I gave the Elders a map I had made of the area and all the former teaching records. It was sad, but Sister Raneses and I both felt it is right and that the elders will have a lot more to offer the area. They really are awesome teachers/missionaries. And now, we can really start getting down to business in Tabuko, which I am excited for.

So I guess to finish, I will just say that God loves you. He really does. He loves all of us, and because He does, He will always make up for what we lack and help us achieve our goals when we truly seek His help.

I saw that this week as we have watched Tabuko slowly start to bloom with His help. For me, even on the hardest days I think that is the greatest comfort: that God will never desert us, He is always right there and ready to help. We just have to let Him. Or as Carrie Underwood would put it, we just have to give him the wheel.

I love you all and hope you have an awesome week!

Love,

Sister Matheny

P.S.  Meet my cute little friend . . .